SoxBlanco

Gotcha. Thanks. On a separate note, that lineup is just awesome to follow. I think I'm higher on Gonzalez than I am Basabe, Rutherford, and Adolfo. I'm envisioning a future outfield from left to right of Eloy, Robert, Gonzalez. Although Basabe is a year younger than Gonzalez, right? And he's doing pretty well at AA. Good problem to have.

His exact quote was, "We would just want to make sure he’s as well-rounded as possible, whether that be base running, defensively, obviously offensively...and we’re getting very close." That's not as definitive as saying, "he will be called up very soon", like some people are claiming. Not trying to call you out with this post. Just trying to point out that quotes get twisted and taken out of context a lot.

I'm confused. You hope they change it to an error?

Same here. Very cruel thread bump.

Wow, I really hope those guys move up in the system together and continue to have success. That's a great looking lineup.

I recall him hammering a triple into the gap in right center off of Hicks' 102 mph fastball less than a month ago. Unless by "clobbered", you are strictly talking home runs.

Sorry, I wasn’t clear on my second point. I was wondering if there is discussion on the way each individual list is presented. For example, with 16-30, you would have 30 at the top and then as we read the article, we see 29, then 28, etc. I always scroll to the bottom of the article and read backwards because I want to see it in descending order.

Great job, as always. I appreciate the time you guys put into this. Looking forward to 1-15. Twi quick things: 1. You have Alex Call listed as a 2018 draft pick. 2. Has there ever been any discussion on presenting the list in descending order?

And I’m sure there is a playoff team out there that could use some bullpen help.

So is Levine just speculating based on Getz’ comments, or does he know something we don’t?

I honestly can’t believe the reactions have become such a big deal over the past couple of days. Do people actually care about them? Wow.

So who is boarding that 10:55 flight to Chicago out of Charlotte so we can see who is on the plane? Make sure you walk up and down the entire length of the plane pretending to “look for your friend” who boarded earlier.

Could a solid two month debut by Kopech and Eloy help lure Machado here? We obviously would still need to offer him the most money, but I wonder if that would have any effect.

Interesting. I figured it would be next year for sure at this point. What did he say?

I wasn’t around when we drafted Curbelo. How did the level of excitement surrounding him compare to that of Bush right now? Did he also have a nice start to his professional career?

One of the best posts in this entire thread.

Some guys wear their passion on their sleeves, and others don’t. I have no idea if Moncada lacks a passion for the game, and neither do you.

More of a reason to leave him in and let him grow in that regard. I loved the decision to let him go back out for the 8th.

I agree that he’s clueless and I definitely don’t want him back, but I fail to see how this move was a bad one. Do you think the shitty bullpen had a better chance of holding the lead than Giolito, who was pitching lights out? If you’re worried about Giolito’s ERA and confidence, I’m pretty sure this won’t affect him. Same thing happened a couple weeks ago, and Giolito does not seem to be affected.

Honestly, I feel the same way. I’ve flip-flopped like five times over the past month on whether I think he should be called up. It’s such a good discussion, and both sides have really good points. But I also believe that the window is closing to call him up this year. After another week, I will fully be on board the “wait until next year” train.

If it’s a weak excuse, then how would moving him to first so he could “focus” on his offensive game help at all?

What exactly does focusing more on defense instead of offense look like? I’m genuinely curious, because I’ve seen a lot of people mention it, and I’ve always found it odd to claim somebody goes into a slump because they aren’t “focusing” on offense. Do you mean mentally? Or actually doing less BP/hitting drills in order to get more defensive drills in?

I think the change up looks much better today. He still hasn’t been consistent with it (a few that float up in the zone), but the good ones look a lot better to me. Fastball has looked outstanding. Command has been great with the fastball.

Scouting Report via MLB.com: After pitching sparingly in three college seasons at Southern California, Flores signed as a seventh-round pick in 2016 and quickly established himself as the best left-handed pitching prospect in the White Sox system. Then his stuff regressed in his first full pro season, which ended three weeks early after he strained an oblique. Working with diminished velocity helped him become a better pitcher, however, and he has consistently registered quality starts throughout '18. Flores' fastball velocity fluctuated from 88-97 mph with the Trojans, parked at 92-97 during his pro debut, but sat around 90 mph in 2017. He's working at 90-94 mph this year, giving him more separation from a quality changeup that can be a well above-average pitch at its best. He has tightened his curveball in '18 and also will mix in a slider/cutter. Flores' control was as inconsistent as his fastball in college, but he has pounded the strike zone throughout his pro career. Though he doesn't have a plus pitch and doesn't miss a lot of bats -- both of which limit his ceiling -- he has a reasonably high floor as a back-of-the-rotation starter.

Are you saying he doesn’t miss enough bats to be successful in the majors? Or he doesn’t miss enough bats to be a highly ranked prospect?